Argentine Presidential Elections, 1999
Overview As the first elected Peronist President since Juan Peron himself, Antonio Cafiero was received by acclamation upon his inauguration in December 1993, particulary from the Peronist Trade Union sector which has been slowly losing ground to other political affilations, most of them the Socialists, which did poorly in elections but gained an even increasing amount of Union posts. Emphasizing a return to Perón's idea of Social Justice, Cafiero's government nevertheless compromised and worked with the opposition to continue most of Angeloz's liberal reforms while focusing his efforts on wealth distribution, contrary to the contemporary image of Cafiero as an die-hard Peronist warrior. Most notably, his opposition to end Alfonsin's 1981 Union Law which decreased the power of his party's syndicates; this is mostly explained as Cafiero's main opponent in his Justicialist Renovation efforts were the Trade Unions. This quickly lost him support in this sector. However, Coming forward to 1999, the stage was set for another Justicialist victory. The 90's economy continued to perform well as the 93 Recession was bought to an end by Cafiero's sought of stability and the rapid growth of Internet infrastructure - and general infrastructure invetsment in roads and railways by his government. The main question was the identity of the victory of the Justicialist Primaries. The victor was of the Primaries was surprisingly Tabaré Vazquez, the popular governor of South Uruguay for the Regionalist Unión Autonoma Uruguaya (UAU) which merged with the Justicialist Party during the 1990's as its right-hand in the Uruguay region, which still had a strong separate identity from most of Argentina. Vazquez also capitalized on a discourse about the New Millennium and his outsider reputation. Tabaré Vazquez choosed Buenos Aires governor and defeated PJ Primary rival Eduardo Duhalde as his running mate, as an olive brach to the Justicialist establishment. The main opposition party, the Unión Civica Radical, choosed as its candidates the same formula from the 1993 Elections; Senator De la Rúa and Río Negro governor Horacio Massaccesi. Alfonsín, president from 1981 to 1987 was thought as the main UCR Primary rival but he quickly declined, while Angeloz remained content with being the Córdoba province governor. In the UCR's national convention, the De la Rúa - Massaccesi hypothesis was confirmed with only minor provincial figures as runner-ups. De la Rúa's second victory confirmed the dominance of the UCR's Right-Wing sector against the Socialdemocratic faction of the party, as in his campaign De la Rúa utilized a liberal, free-market discourse. However, the biggest surprise of the election would be the MODIN, a Right-Wing Nationalist movement which began in 1991 as a party with overt Fascist sympathies. But come 1999, the party became a bandwagon for several Northern Governors, especially after the proclamation of the Vazquez - Duhalde formula in the PJ. Santiago del Estero Governor Carlos Juarez was nominated for the presidency with Jujuy Senator Eduardo Fellner, denouncing the 'Centralism' in the Justicialist party and enganging in a militant Anti-Communist discourse against Brazil and Peru. Juárez's hopes would be to deadlock the Electoral College to negotiate with Vazquez afterwards. In the end, Carlos Juárez's hopes were almost realized as Vazquez only won with 331 Electoral Votes from 330 needed, but it was enough of a difference to proclaim him victor. The UCR mostly bled support to the Justicialists, especially in Uruguay, though in the North there was a general shift towards the MODIN as a regional force, gaining a well respected 79 EV's and 22% of the popular vote. Tabaré Vazquez was sweared in on December 10, 1999; focusing most of his inaugural speech on the New Millennium of the year 2000. Fourth Biggest Parties Partido Justicialista (Center-Left) Tabaré Vazquez, Eduardo Duhalde Unión Civica Radical (Center-Right) Fernando de la Rúa, Horacio Massaccesi Movimiento por la Dignidad y la Independencia (Right, Anti-Communist) Carlos Juárez, Eduardo Fellner Partido Socialista (Socialist) Patricia Walsh, Jorge Altamira